CARMINHA LEVY is
an educator, clinical psychologist of Jungian orientation and art-therapist.
Mrs. Levy has been dedicating herself since 1981 to the spreading of Shamanism
in Brazil with Michael Harner's technique, with whom she made the following
courses: The Shamanic Journey, Power and Healing, and Two-Week Advanced
Course in Shamanism and Shamanic Healing, both at the Esalen Institute,
Big Sur - California, USA. Also at the Esalen Institute, she was a pupil
of Stanislav Grof, with whom she had a Transpersonal Therapy course.

Presently, Mrs. Levy dedicates herself to spreading the Afro-Brazilian
Shamanism abroad. In the spring of 1990, Mrs. Levy founded the Paz
Géia Institute of Shamanic Research, whose objective is the study,
research and disclosing of the Indian-Afro-Brazilian and South American
Shamanism.Mrs. Levy is also a member of The Foundation for Shamanic Studies,
based in Norwalk, Connecticut, USA.

Candomblé and the Psychological Typesby Carminha Levy

Exu BaraExu BaraExu Baraô

EXU (*), the African Mercury, is the necessary intermediary between
man and the supernatural, the interpreter of the language of the mortals
and of the ORIXÁS. Therefore, he is in charge of taking of the gods
to Africa, the call of its foreign children. In these introductory notes,
he is called to take to the foreign children a sample of the infinite possibilities
of this rich Pantheon, which is kept alive in Africa, Brazil and other
countries in the New World.

Candomblé is a structure of worship to the forces of nature,
it is an ode to life as the Eternal Movement which is expressed in the
dances, in the ORIXÁS colors, in the sacramental food. As a communal
ritual of songs, dances, and sacred foods in its public form, Candomblé
is sacramented by the "Saint" Father or Mother, the "Saint" Children, by
the drum players (OGAN), who sing the sacred songs inviting the presence
of the ORIXÁ, with the participation of the whole community, from
the elders to the children. Everyone sings and salutes the ORIXÁS,
and performs the sacred dance in an ode to Happiness, Love, and Sharing.

The ORIXÁS - YORUBA gods in Africa and in the New World, would
be mythical ancestors enchanted and metamorphosed into forces of nature.
Each individual has a main ORIXÁ who is the "head owner", and three
others who demand worship and also offer protection. Tradition states that
each human being the moment he is conceived chooses freely his head (ORI)
and his fate (ODU). Each person has a divine origin, which links it to
a specific deity. This divine part is located inside the head. The substance
of divine origin (IPORI) expresses the link to a specific god - ELEDA -
, therefore called the head owner. To know his ELEDA allows the man to
be the craftsman of his own fate, obeying the duties or prohibitions determined
by his ORIXÁ. To know how to handle these influences is equivalent
to knowing one's horoscope from birth on with life improvements, what one
can get knowing how to listen to the stars. The "head owner" (ELEDA) determines
the psychological type of your child, influencing also his physical characteristics
and destiny. Traditionally one can know which is the head ORIXÁ
by reading the "búzios" (sea shells), divine way of reading the
ODU. For this purpose we use the previously prepared African "búzio"
(CAUI). After a general overview of the structure of Candomblé,
we will return to the ORIXÁS and the psychological types.

Candomblé expresses itself in the backyards where the ORIXÁS
and the honorable ancestors are worshiped. The backyard has two areas,
with different characteristics and functions: (a) an urban built space,
where the dance is performed; (b) a virgin space (trees and a spring of
water, equivalent to the African forest), which is considered sacred.

The supreme master of the backyard is the BABALORIXA or IYALORIXA
(father or mother who possess the ORIXÁ). They have a supernatural
power - AXE, the propelling force of the whole Universe. The AXE stimulates
the sacred practice, which in turn feeds the AXE back, making the whole
system move. The AXE is neutral, being a principle and a force. It is transmitted,
applied and combined to the natural elements, which contain and express
the backyard AXE, who can be: (a) the AXE of each ORIXÁ, fed back
through the ritual offerings and actions; the AXE of each backyard member,
added to the one of his ORIXÁ, received at the initiation time,
plus the AXE of his individual destiny (ODU), and the one inherited from
his own ancestors; (c) the AXE of the honorable ancestors.

The AXE, being a force, it can increase or decrease depending on
the liturgical practice and rigorous observance of the duties and obligations.
The power of the AXE is contained in and transmitted by representative
elements of the vegetal, animal and mineral kingdoms (offerings), which
can be grouped in three categories: (a) red blood from the animal kingdom
(blood), vegetal kingdom ( dende oil), and mineral kingdom (copper); (b)
white blood from the animal kingdom (semen, saliva), vegetal kingdom (sap),
mineral kingdom (chalk); (c) black blood from the animal kingdom ( animal
ashes), vegetal kingdom (dark juice from certain vegetables), and mineral
kingdom (charcoal, iron). These three types of blood, where the AXE is
transported with its color, will determine the fundamental importance of
the color in the worship. Summarizing, the AXE is therefore a power which
is received, shared and distributed through the ritual practice, of the
mystical and initiating experience, with symbolic concepts and elements
used as vehicles. It is the AXE's power which allows the ORIXÁ to
come and fulfill himself.

Life occurs in two levels: AIYE (the world, man's dwelling place),
and ORUN (beyond, the ORIXÁ's dwelling place, a world parallel to
the real world, which coexists with all the contents of this one). Each
individual, tree, animal, city, etc has its spiritual and abstract double
in ORUN. The myths reveal that in distant times AYE and ORUN were connected,
and men could come and go as they pleased from one place to the other.
However, one order was violated, and there was the consequent separation
and the unfolding of existence. One myth of creation says that in the beginning
there was nothing besides air. When OLORUN started breathing, part of the
air transformed itself into a mass of water, originating ORIXALA - the
great ORIXÁ FUNFUN of the white. The air and the water moved together
and a part became a bubble or a mound: shaped matter - a reddish and muddy
rock. OLORUN breathed life over it, and with his breath gave life to EXU,
the first born, the procreated, the first one in the Universe.

OLORUN embodies the whole space and has three powers which rule and
keep active existence and the Universe. IWA, who allows generic existence,
air, breathing; AXE, who allows existence to become dynamic; ABA, who gives
it purpose and direction. As the poet Moraes Moreira says in "Iorubá
Thought":

For everything to be there must be IWAFor it to become there must be AXEFor it to always be there must be ABA...By combining these three powers in a specific way, OLORUN transmits
them to IRUNMALE, divine entities who date back to the beginning of the
universe, in charge of keeping them in the various spheres of their power.
The IRUNMALE are supposed to be six hundred, four hundred of the right
(the ORIXÁS, holders of the masculine powers), and two hundred of
the left (the EBORAS, holders of the feminine powers). The ORIXÁS
are masses of slow, serene movements, of immemorial age. They possess a
great balance to control the relationships between who is born, who dies,
what is given, what should be solved. They are associated to Justice and
to balance, regulating principle of cosmic, social, and individual phenomena.

We saw when OLORUN started breathing, conceived ORIXALA and EXU,
they procreated. As a procreated, EXU cannot be isolated nor classified
in any category. My respects to my BARA! In these writings about the ORIXÁS,
EXU with his psychological profile and the determining type of his offspring
will clear the way, being the first one to be called.

EXU

EXU existed before the world order. As life itself, he constantly
changes, but not evenly, because EXU changes the rules of the game as he
pleases - he is a trickster. He is smart, conceited, intelligent and ambiguous
- to such an extent that the first missionaries were scared and compared
him to the devil, making him a symbol of all evil. But EXU, due to his
own energy and paradoxes, is who keeps things alive. It is him who makes
it possible for AXE to always circulate, and if treated with consideration
(offerings), he reacts favorably, showing himself willing and at our disposal.
EXU is shown as the most humane ORIXÁ, neither totally evil nor
totally good. Being related to the ancestors, he is the caretaker of the
temples, houses, cities and people. Each person has his/her own BARA -
even each ORIXÁ has his EXU. He is everywhere and with everything,
for he is the eternal intermediary between men and the gods. Therefore,
in all Candomblé ceremonies his offering is the first one to be
made, called PADE - which means re-union. In PADE, EXU is called, saluted,
greeted and sent beyond with a double objective: to summon the other ORIXÁS
for the party and at the same time to remove him from there, so that he
does not disturb the ceremony with his tricks. As a carrier of offerings
he is OXETUA, son of OXUM with the sixteen ODU of the oracle (sea shell
game) (CAUI). This good characteristic of EXU grants him the power of restoring
fertility to the world. As master of the power of transformation, he is
EXU ELEGBARA, who was cut into pieces and regenerated himself later, and
by doing this symbolically he reunited the whole Universe.

EXU maintains the balance of exchanges, he provokes conflict to foster
synthesis. Everything which is joined multiplies, separates, transforms
itself - everything is EXU, personification of the transformation principle.
His day is Monday. He is associated to the beginning and to the future,
and his color is purplish dark blue, color of the mystery of procreation.
His animal is the dog; his plants are the cactus and the "mandacaru". He
controls sex and wears a hat similar to a phallus: there is no sexuality
without EXU.

OKOTO is the snail symbol of EXU, representing the spiral of evolution.
When it appears it is saluted by one of its names (LAROYE). He wears white,
blue and red, and holds either a trident or a seven tip iron or a spear
in his hand.

The psychological type of EXU's son has the following characteristics:
he is strong, agile, dynamic, untiring, overflowing with vitality. He loves
the pleasures of life, he is greedy, always hungry and drinks a lot. That
is why nobody in a Candomblé ceremony can drink without spilling
a drink for EXU on the ground of the main entrance. He is happy, playful,
he likes to play tricks, hide objects, tell lies, teach the wrong way.
He loves to shock people, to say four-letters words. He is untidy, and
he loves to disturb parties and meetings. If it is convenient for him,
he can be extremely hard-working, efficient, untiring and obstinate - always
bearing in mind that he may profit with that. But he is totally unpredictable,
sometimes abandoning some work in a whim. However, he is not insensible.
He is helpful, and does not refuse assistance to his friends. He is always
summoned to solve financial problems, arguments, love troubles, for which
he finds a happy end with skill and a good mood. But the main characteristic
of EXU's sons is the heightening of sexuality; their lives are conducted
by intense sexual activity, and sexual fidelity is impossible to get from
EXU's children.

OXALA

Following the hierarchical sequence, we face the FUNFUN ORIXÁS
of the white, OXALA.

OXALA is the holder of the progenitor male and female power. All
his representations include the color white. It is a fundamental element
of the genesis, air mass and water mass, the prototype and the formation
of all types of creatures in AIYE and ORUN. He has two forms when incorporating:
OXAGUIA, young warrior, and OXALUFA, and old man leaning on a silver cane
(APAXARO). OXALA is apart from all violence, disputes, fights, he likes
order, cleanliness, purity. His color is white and his day is Friday. His
children should wear white on this day. Metals and other white substances
belong to OXALA.

The psychological type of a son of OXALA is benevolent and paternal,
wise, calm, patient, and tolerant. He is slow, closed, cold. He is obstinate,
works in silence. OXALUFA is fragile, delicate, subject to colds because
he feels cold. He makes up for his physical fragility with a great moral
force, and his objective is to realize the human condition in what it is
noblest. He is faithful in love and friendship. The OXAGUIA type is a young,
pugnacious warrior. He is usually tall and strong, but neither aggressive
nor brutal. He does not despise sex and is in favor of free love. He is
happy, loves life deeply, he is talkative and playful. At the same time
he is an idealist, defending those who need justice, the weak and the oppressed
ones. He is proud, craves for glorious deeds, and is sometimes a sort of
D. Quixote. His original thoughts usually anticipate his times. He is the
beginning, the East where the sun rises, and OXALUFA the setting, the West
where it sets.

ODUDUWA

ODUDUWA, also considered a FUNFUN entity, received the earth element
from OLORUN, with which she created AIYE. Her color is black (dark blue),
by being a representative of AIYE. OXALA and ODUDUWA are worshiped on the
same day (Friday), and in some Candomblé backyards the two concepts
are mixed.

The psychological type of a son of ODUDUWA from the physical point
of view is similar to the OXALA type. They are slim, thin, nervous and
dry like the soil. But as opposed to the OXALA type, ODUDUWA's children
are violent and aggressive, closed, insecure and distressed, sometimes
becoming touchy, impatient, intolerant, and suspicious. They are envious,
vindictive, pursuing those whose happiness or success mean an insult to
them. They know how to manipulate others and all their force is in their
curious intelligence, critical sense and sharp irony. He is dominating,
authoritarian, and at work he is demanding, perfectionist and precise.

NANA

NANA, a god from the beginning of creation, is associated to mud,
water and death: she receives the dead inside her, making rebirth possible.
The fact that she is a continent, associated with process and interiority,
connects her with the color black, which is expressed in dark blue. Because
she is a generating force, she belongs to the white. Her colors are therefore
blue and white. Her animal is the frog and her day is Tuesday.

As an ORIXÁ of Justice, NANA does not tolerate neither treachery,
nor indiscretion, nor theft. Being a very discreet ORIXÁ, and because
she likes to hide, her daughters can have a totally different character
from hers. For example, nobody will suspect that apparently a daughter
of OXUM, charming and vain, would be a "hidden" daughter of NANA.

The psychological type of NANA's children is introverted and calm.
Her temper is strict and rigid. Bad-tempered, she is more feared than loved.
Not very feminine, she is not very attractive and is very removed from
sexuality. Because she is afraid of loving, being abandoned, and suffering,
she dedicates her life to work, the inner call, to social ambition.

OMOLU

OMOLU, the King of the Earth, is NANA's son, but ha was raised by
IEMANJA, who received him when his mother rejected him because he was lame,
ugly, and covered by wounds. He is a god from the dry, hard and warm land.
Citonian, he is sometimes called "the old man", with all the prestige and
power which age represents in Candomblé. He is linked to the Sun,
he grants harvest, and at the same time he controls sickness and cure.
With his SASSARA, ritual straw scepter from the Coast, he ousts pestilence
and evil. But sickness can also be the sign of the chosen, by whom OMOLU
wants to be served. He who had small-pox is frequently devoted to OMOLU,
who is called "doctor of the poor". His colors are red and black, and he
wears a "line" of straw from the African Coast which covers him from head
to waist. His relationships with the ORIXÁS are marked by fights
with XANGO and OGUM and by the fact that the female ORIXÁS abandoned
him. First he was rejected by his mother, then he is abandoned by OXUM,
with whom he fell in love who, together with IANSA, exchanges him by XANGO.
Finally OBA, with whom he got married, was stolen by XANGO. He is a lonely
ORIXÁ, from the streets like EXU. His day is Monday, when popcorn
is offered to him. His animal is the crab.

The psychological type of OMOLU's sons is sullen, closed, clumsy,
rustic, lacking elegance and charm. He may be marked by small-pox or some
other skin disease, and is frequently a hypochondriac. He has a considerable
endurance and is able to make long efforts. He is usually a pessimist,
with self-destructive tendencies which hurt his life. He is bitter, melancholic,
becomes lonely. But when he has set objectives, he fights and is obstinate
in reaching his goals. When he is disappointed, he represses his ambitions,
taking a life of humbleness, voluntary poverty, mortification. He is slow,
but persistent. He is strong as a rock. He lacks spontaneity and adaptation
skills, therefore he does not accept changes. He is vindictive, cruel,
and ruthless when offended or humiliated. Essentially virile, being a fundamentally
masculine ORIXÁ, he lacks a touch of seduction and what is left
is only a brutal bachelor. A similar phenomenon seems to occur in NANA's
case: the more powerful and stressed the femininity, more dangerous it
becomes, and paradoxically, less seductive.

OXUMARE

OXUMARE is the youngest and favorite of NANA's sons, OMOLU's brother.
He is a very old white entity. He participated in the creation of the World
wrapping himself around the earth, joining the matter and shaping the World.
He supports the Universe, controls the stars and the ocean, and sets them
into movement. Crawling through the World, he designed its valleys and
rivers. He is the great snake which bites its tail, representing the continuation
of the movement and of the vital cycle. The snake is his, and that is why
in Candomblé it is not killed. His essence is the movement, fertility,
the sequel of life. Communication between heaven and earth is granted by
OXUMARE He takes the water from the seas to the sky, so that rain can be
formed - he is the rainbow, the great colored snake. He assures communication
between the supernatural world, the ancestors and men, and is therefore
associated to the umbilical cord. His color is lettuce green and all the
combinations of the rainbow.

His day is Tuesday, and his favorite offerings are armadillos, roosters,
and fresh fruit. He is bi-sexual with a feminine aspect, dances with ADE
(the queens' crown). He is a man for six months, a woman during the other
six. He own the riches hidden in the forest, ingrained in the land, and
in the bottom of the sea, where he lives under the ocean: all precious
stones, gold and coral belong to him.

The psychological type of OXUMARE's sons is aristocratic. Physically
he is slim, with fine features. He is dynamic, intelligent, inquisitive,
and ironic. He likes to gossip, and he attracts, seduces and entertains
because he is intriguing. He is often snobbish, and likes to show off,
being sometimes eccentric and extravagant. When rich, he protects talented
youngsters. He is homosexual or bisexual. He is neither rough nor gross,
he is refined and civilized, but his vilification can be dangerous. He
has a great intuition, and can be a smart soothsayer.

YEMANJA

YEMANJA is considered the mother of all ORIXÁS - OGUM, XANGO,
OBA, OXOSSI, and OXUM - who were born from an illegitimate affair he had
with IF. NANA, as we saw, is OMOLU and OXUMARE's mother. YEMANJA, on the
other hand, is OLOKUN's daughter, masculine ORIXÁ in BENIN or feminine
in IFE, always from the sea. She is highly worshiped in Brazil, and her
cult became almost independent from Candomblé. She is represented
as a mermaid with long black hair. She rules motherhood, she is the mother
of the fish, representing fertility. Her day is Saturday. At the great
"duties" she is offered white goat, duck or chicken. She loves flowers
and is usually given seven open white roses, which are thrown to the sea
in thankfulness. Her color is white with blue. She wears an ADE with bead
fringes hiding her face. She holds the EBEBE in her hand - it is a round
silver metal ritual fan, with a mermaid cut in the center.

The psychological type of YEMANJA's children is imposing, majestic
and beautiful, calm, sensuous, fertile and irresistibly fascinating (the
mermaid's song). YEMANJA's daughters are good housewives, excellent educators,
generous, even raising other people's children (OMOLU). When offended,
they do not forgive easily. They are possessive and very jealous. Since
YEMANJA, guides the formation of individuality, which is in the head, as
we know, she is present in all the rituals, especially BORI.

OGUM

OGUM is YEMANJA's first-born son, with whom he always was. He was
also very fond of EXU and his brother OXOSSI, the hunting ORIXÁ
- to whom he gave his weapons. He was married to IANSA, who abandoned him
to go with XANGO. He also married OXUM, but he lives alone, clearing the
roads. He is the iron ORIXÁ; he was the first blacksmith. He is
the ORIXÁ of civilization and technology. He introduced agriculture,
and as offerings, he receives yam and beans, the fruits of the land. He
is the ORIXÁ of the engine drivers, car drivers, railroad workers,
technicians, and of all those who work with machines and tools. He is the
ORIXÁ of virility; he removes obstacles, civilizes the world, provides
food.

His day is Tuesday. For the great "duties" he may request an ox or
a goat. His color is red, but he also likes deep blue and green. His animal
is the dog. He is aggressive and brutal and he is said to be responsible
for car, airplane and mechanical accidents in general, with which he punishes
those who disrespected him. His children should abstain from drinking "cachaça"
(sugar cane alcoholic drink) and from going armed with knives. As his possession
is very violent, he who receives his entity may become totally unconscious
and without control of his acts.

OGUM's children are quarrelsome, violent, impulsive, and do not forgive
the offenses they suffer. They fiercely pursue their objectives, and in
difficult moments they are successful where any other would have abandoned
the struggle and lost all hope. Their mood is variable, ranging from furious
anger fits to a tranquil behavior. They are impulsive and arrogant, do
not care about hurting others, but they are seldom hated due to the frankness
of their intentions and their sincerity.

XANGO

XANGO is an ORIXÁ of fire, son of OXALA with YEMANJA. The
legend says he was OYA's king. A powerful and proud king, he had to face
rivalries and even fight with his brothers to keep his power. Beaten by
his enemies, he took refuge in the forest, always with his faithful OYA
(IANSA), and hanged both of them. His body disappeared underground in a
deep hole, from where an iron chain came out - the human generation chain.
He became an ORIXÁ, but at the same time he is an EGUM (spirit of
the ancestors). A real paradigm, in Candomblé the EGUNS are not
worshiped together with the ORIXÁS. EGUM is for the men like a father,
and the ORIXÁ is for OXALA a son: XANGO is at the same time OXALA's
son and a mythical ancestor linked to royalty, a divinized hero, founder
of the NAG dynasty. Due to his dual origin, XANGO is the Saint of Justice,
punishing with a lightening. He is also a charmer; he has three wives:
OBA , the oldest and least loved; OXUM, who was married to OXOSSI and with
whom XANGO falls in love and makes her leave OXOSSI for him; and IANSA,
who lived with OGUM and who was kidnapped by XANGO. She is the youngest
and favorite, for she is a dedicated wife and strong warrior, who precedes
her husband in the battles and, because she own the lightening, she gave
the fire to her beloved XANGO, commanding the natural forces characterized
by violence: thunder, lightening (the supernatural fire from heaven), he
throws rocks from the sky. He is the dynamics of the elements of nature
from whose meeting these meteorological phenomena are born. Power, fire,
movement, life and fertility - he receives from his wife IANSA. His animal
is the sheep, whose attacks are compared to the violence of the lightening
and who has spiral horns like fire. He is a dissolute ORIXÁ, turbulent,
red, hot and stands out for his intense sexual activity. XANGO is scared
of death and of the EGUNS. These are the opposites who have to join: mortal
and immortal, father (of men) and son (of OXALA), which he will do with
his wife's intervention (IANSA), who brings the fire, fertility, the continuation
of generations, the life power transmitted from father to son through the
woman's pregnancy.

His color is red and white, and his day is Wednesday. He likes the
sacrifice of the turtle, who is often called his horse, of the rooster
and of the duck. His possession is an explosion of happiness, his dance
is vigorous and beautiful, and his children salute him with hand-clapping,
fireworks, yells and the expression: "we wish your majesty a long life"
- above all, a King. XANGO's sacred objects are LAB and OSE, a double axe
which represents the lightening and can be in wood or bronze metal - by
the reddish color, it is consecrated to him. LABA is a painted leather
bag made only in Africa, whose drawings are sacred. It is divided in four
parts and the drawings, which resemble the lightening, are asymmetrical
and evoke the three segments of the radius and the triangle. The number
three is the even number plus one, suggesting movement and continuation,
i.e., life itself.

The psychological type of XANGO's children is physically robust,
strong and obstinate chin, short neck, sensuous and fleshy lips. They are
violent, proud, but their aggressiveness is not senseless: it is against
evil, because like XANGO, his children are paladins of Justice.

IANSA

IANSA is the daughter of YEMANJA with OXALA and XANGO's favorite
wife. She is a warrior and adventuresome like him, a woman of many men
( OXOSSI, OGUM, and XANGO ). She relates to all elements of nature. Water,
in the form of rain, of storm. The air, as the storm wind which uproots
trees, knocks down houses. In its good aspect, it was IANSA's air which
spread medicinal plants, previously kept by OSSAIN in a bowl. Linked to
the forest, she transforms herself into a buffalo, deer or elephant. She
provides abundant hunting. But her essence is the movement and the fire,
she is the ORIXÁ of lightening. This relationship with movement
and fire makes IANSA a goddess of sex and love. She is a queen for being
XANGO's favorite. And because she is the EGUNS' mother and queen, she is
the only ORIXÁ who is not afraid of the dead. Her number is nine,
product of 3 X 3 - the initial even number plus one, indicating continuation,
pure movement. Her day is Wednesday and her color is red. Her objects are
a copper sword and a "fly catcher" with which she keeps the EGUNS away.

The psychological type of IANSA's daughters is turbulent, restless,
full of initiative. They are noticed, provoking and they dominate men,
but they are dedicated wives. The homosexuals have IANSA as a role model.
They are fertile women, mother of many children, but which are raised by
a grandmother, a nanny, an aunt. The IANSA type only oversees their upbringing.
They do not like housework nor executive work. They prefer to be actresses,
farmers or pursue any other profession in which some adventure, passion,
and drive are needed.

OBA

OBA is an ORIXÁ linked to water, a not so feminine warrior.
Her clothes are red and white, she carries a shield, a sword, a copper
crown. She wears a scarf on her head so as to hide her cut ear. The legend
says that OBA, rejected by XANGO, was always around the palace wanting
to return. OXUM, with his artifices, tells OBA that XANGO loves ears and
suggests she makes a soup with her ear, which will be an unfailing way
to get him. OBA did just that and when XANGO had the soup and it tasted
strange, he wanted to know who made it; OBA happily says it was her, thinking
she had gotten him back. XANGO got shocked with her mutilation and evicts
her forever.

The psychological type of OBA's children is the stereotype of the
strong will-powered woman, terribly possessing and deprived. As opposed
to IANSA, she is a one-man woman, faithful and long-suffering. They are
strugglers, impulsive, and revengeful. OBA is an ORIXÁ who rarely
expresses himself and there is very little studied by her. Maybe because
presently, in Africa or in Brazil, there is no room for these characteristics
in females, who are recovering more and more their IANSA power.

OXUM

OXUM is a female ORIXÁ by excellence - the Eternal Feminine.
She is OXALA and YEMANJA's favorite daughter. In the myth, she was married
to OXOSSI, to whom she is unfaithful with XANGO, with OGUM, who battered
her and from whom XANGO saves her. She seduces OMOLU, who becomes so madly
in love with her that he removes the pest from XANGO's kingdom. But OXUM
is unanimously considered one of XANGO's wives, and IANSA's and OBA's rival.
She is a sweet water ORIXÁ, from springs and streams, owner of the
OXUM River and of all waters born in the earth. An esoteric tradition says
that OXUM is Mother Earth herself, a live self-regulating being, the rivers
being her veins. OXUM is essentially the women's ORIXÁ, presiding
over menstruation, pregnancy and childbirth. She has an important function
in the initiation rites, which are pregnancy and birth. She is the ORIXÁ
of motherhood, she loves children, protects life and has healing functions.
OXUM is fertility and abundance which expresses itself in the fruit of
the waters (fish) and in the fruit of the land (yam), which are always
present in her cults. Fruitfulness and fertility are, by extension, abundance
and affluence. OXUM is the ORIXÁ of richness - she owns gold, the
fruit of the inside of the earth. She is happy, smiling, charming, intelligent,
girl/woman who plays with dolls, and wise woman, generous and compassionate,
never getting angry. She is elegant, full of jewels, the queen that refuses
nothing, gives everything. She is called IYALODE among the YORUBA people:
she commands women in the city, mediates disputes, and is in charge of
order in the food market. She also commands the witches, which only shows
in her preference for the bird - a red eyed pigeon. She has an important
role in the game of "búzios" (sea shells), for she makes the questions
which EXU answers.

Her day is Saturday, day of the waters, her color is golden yellow
and the egg is consecrated to her for representing pregnancy. She loves
honey, sweet like her. When OXUM dances, she holds in her hand a sword
and a mirror, revealing her condition of seduction warrior. She bathes
herself in the river, combs her hair, wears her jewels and bracelets, all
this in a slow and provoking movement. ORIXÁ of gold, of peace,
of richness, she is essentially the Mother - generous, prodigal, and accommodating
and, because of this, like OXUM EWUJI is saluted in the PADE, the beginning
of every ritual in the Candomblé.

The psychological type of OXUM's children is being physically very
beautiful. They have well built bodies, usually fair and blond. They always
represent the attractive type, and are always pursued by the opposite sex
( not like IANSA, who pursues). They appreciate luxury and sex, they are
vain, elegant, sensuous and like changes, maybe being unfaithful. But they
are calm, tranquil, emotional, cry easily. They are smart, managing to
get everything they want with imagination and plot. Though complacent and
prodigal, they can be self-seeking, lazy and hesitant. They are very suspicious,
and have a great intuition which is often put to work for artfulness.

OXOSSI

OXOSSI is Keto's King, son of OXALA and YEMANJA or, in the myths,
APAOKA's ( jackfruit ) son. He is the hunting ORIXÁ; he was an elephant
hunter, an animal associated to royalty and to the ancestors. The myth
says that OXOSSI found IANSA in the forest, as a great elephant which transforms
itself into a woman. He marries her, has many children who are abandoned
and raised by OXUM. OXOSSI lives in the forest where the spirits live and
is related to the trees and the ancestors. He owns the bees, who represent
the spirit of the female ancestors. He relates to the animals, whose screams
he imitates perfectly, he is a brave and agile hunter, he is generous,
provides hunting and protects against the attack of wild animals. He is
a lonely bachelor after he was left by IANSA, and also because as a hunter
he has to keep away from women for they are ominous to hunting. He is closely
linked to OGUM, from whom he received his hunting weapons. OSSAIN fell
in love with OXOSSI's beauty and enclosed him in the forest. OGUM is able
to penetrate the forest with his blacksmith's tools and frees him. He is
associated to the cold, the night, the moon; his plants are refreshing.
His day is Thursday.

He wears turquoise blue or blue and red. He wears an elegant wide-brimmed
hat decorated with blue and white ostrich feathers. He carries two bull's
horns at his waist, a bow, a golden arrow and a IRUKERE - a bull-tail whip
to keep away the ancestors. His dance emulates the gesture of throwing
arrows to the right and left, the rhythm is fast, when he imitates the
rider hunting, sliding slowly, sometimes jumping and rotating around himself.
It is one of the most beautiful dances in Candomblé.

The psychological type of OXOSSI's son is refined and very beautiful.
He is the ORIXÁ of the intellectual artists. He is inquisitive,
a greatly penetrating observer. He is full of crazes, unstable in his love
affairs, very susceptible and believed to be "complicated". He is lonely,
mysterious, discreet, introverted. He does not adapt easily to urban life,
and is generally a pioneer. He often fascinates boys and may be a homosexual.
He is extremely sensitive, has artistic qualities, creativity, a refined
taste. His psychic structure is very emotional and romantic.

LOGUM EDE

LOGUM EDE is OXOSSI and OXUM's son. He is a woman for six months,
living in the water, and a man in the other six months, living in the jungle.
He provides hunting and fishing. He dresses as an AYABA, with a pink skirt,
wears a golden metal crown (not the ADE of the queens), a bow and an arrow.
He always wears light colors. With his masculine aspect he wears a golden
metal helmet, bags, bow and arrow or sword. He always dances with OXUM
and OXOSSI.

The psychological type of LOGUM EDE's children is very proud of their
body - our present policy of body culture could be conducted by LOGUM EDE.
He is seductive, vain, lazy and jealous. They are ambivalent types, they
can be well mannered, have a good mood, be refreshing as the ODUNDUN leaf
and the water, but they can also be gloomy as their ancestors. The ORIXÁ
LOGUM EDE is responsible for dizzy spells and fainting, which can be taken
as EGUNS' provocations. His cult in Africa is almost extinct, but in Bahia
it is alive. His children cannot wear the color red.

OSSAIN

OSSAIN is OXALA and YEMANJA's son, OGUM, OXOSSI, and XANGO's brother.
He lives in the forest - he is also an ORIXÁ of the open air, where
he found and arrested OXUM. He is XANGO's enemy, from whom it is said that
he tried to get OBA, thus having to face XANGO's wrath, losing a leg in
this battle. Other legends say that he stole the fire from XANGO and gave
it to men, being this the reason for the hostility.

OSSAIN is the ORIXÁ of the leaves and medicine. As we have
seen, thanks to IANSA all the ORIXÁS have their leaves, but in principle
OSSAIN continues being their owner. There are leaves for everything: for
each type of sickness, of distress, or well being, to get happiness, money,
long life. The leaves are always with AXE, and in Candomblé without
them and without OSSAIN nothing gets done - therefore, OSSAIN is AXE's
owner!

His color is green and his day is Monday. As the master of vegetation,
he is linked to the earth. He is a chthonic ORIXÁ, like OMOLU he
is lame or he does not have a leg. His metal is iron. He is deeply linked
to the gourd - which represents the cosmic matrix, where he keeps his leaves
and his power. He is associated to the birds, and wears a crown with a
bird on top. We should remember that the witches' symbol is a gourd where
a bird is enclosed, symbolizing their power and performing the work determined
by them. Thus OSSAIN represents the gourd's magic power - pregnancy. He
is the ORIXÁ of medicine, who with his leaves makes medicines, enchantments,
good luck charms, and cures the sick. Knowing the leaves is the most secret
part of Candomblé. OSSAIN wears on his head a silver metal crown
decorated with a bird, he carries on his waist small gourds where he keeps
his medicines, and takes in one hand a large silver gourd and in the other
a seven tip tool and a bird in the central tip. He is the ORIXÁ
of the doctors and scientists.

The psychological type of OSSAIN's children has a secret and unpredictable
mood, he hides, "puts others in front because he does not like to show
himself". From the morphological point of view, he is delicate and fragile;
sometimes when they are old, they become lame or cripple. He is discreet,
quiet, does not talk about himself and makes a point of preserving his
freedom. Unaware of the petty aspects of day-to-day life, when he is seeking
the solution to a scientific or philosophical problem he forgets to eat.
He is sensitive, generous, compassionate, he loves animals, especially
birds. His balanced character does not allow compatibilities or dislikes
to interfere in his decisions. His judgements about men and things are
not based on the idea of good and evil, but on their efficiency.

These introductory notes to the study of Candomblé - the ORIXÁS'
religion - started with a salutation to EXU (AXE's vehicle between men
and the gods), and it concludes with our meeting with OSSAIN (AXE's vehicle
among men).

When OSSAIN stole the fire for men, he opened their way to consciousness,
and because he owns the AXE of the plants, he has the energy of the Candomblé
practice - in Candomblé, nothing gets done without the energy of
the plants - and the energy of healing, through their curative energy.
OSSAIN is lame and fragile, with the power of limitation and his fragility
maintains an extraordinary reserve of creative and curative energy, and
of passive resistance towards the objectives he set as a goal - he is our
WOUNDED HEALER.